CNBC -- The 2013 holiday shopping season was largely defined by its price wars. And while those are sure to continue this year, another type of battle is already starting to take shape: Shipping wars.

Despite a slew of late deliveries last holiday—the result of last-minute delivery promises and a series of snowstorms—retailers are looking to get a leg up on the competition by pushing Christmas deadlines for online orders even later in the season.

MHI Blog -- Material handling equipment new orders grew 8.8% in 2013 and are forecasted to grow 8.0-9.0% for 2014 and 2015, according to the latest Material Handling Equipment Manufacturing Forecast (MHEM) released by MHI.

In addition, material handling equipment shipments grew 7.8% in 2013 and are forecasted to grow 4.5-5.0% in 2014 and 9.0-11.0% in 2015. Domestic demand (shipments plus imports less exports) grew 8.3% in 2013 and are forecasted to grow just over 4.5-6% in 2014 and 11.0% in 2015.

The New York Times -- It’s the biggest shopping day of the year in China, and the discounts are steep. But Jiang Shan waited to buy some of what she wants.

On Tuesday, tens of millions of Chinese like Ms. Jiang bought more than $9 billion worth of products online in honor of Singles’ Day, China’s de facto e-commerce holiday and the world’s largest Internet shopping event. But buying is one thing. Delivery is another.

Fox Business -- The nation's transportation grid must be built to withstand a new normal of more serious natural disasters and it won't be cheap or easy, a top official of the U.S. Transportation Department warned Wednesday.

Creating a resilient transportation system is "the most significant challenge we have in the century going forward," Peter Rogoff, the department's undersecretary for policy told a forum sponsored by the Eno Center for Transportation.

Los Angeles Daily News -- For most of the past few months, contract negotiations between West Coast dockworkers and port management moved forward amicably. Early on, both sides agreed to remain at the table — and on the job — until a new agreement could be finalized. More recently, however, congestion at the ports has risen to crisis levels, due in part to the lack of a contract. And in the last several days, negotiations have become toxic, with management accusing labor of "orchestrated slowdowns" and labor accusing management of attempting to "smear the union."

Modern Materials Handling -- A nearly two-year upward trend in the manufacturing sector experienced a hiccup according to the quarterly MAPI Foundation Business Outlook as the composite index slipped from 71 to 67 in the third quarter.

The survey’s composite index is a leading indicator for the manufacturing sector, and is conducted by the MAPI Foundation, the research affiliate of the Manufacturers Alliance for Productivity and Innovation.

Industry Week -- The U.S. manufacturing industry is in the midst of a comeback. Manufacturers are gladly shifting from securing demand to meeting demand. However, reworking the U.S. transportation infrastructure is essential to the success of this progress.

Today there are more than 4 million miles of road, 600,000 bridges, and 3,000 transit providers in the U.S. that have been impacted from the falling share of GDP dedicated to transportation from federal, state and local levels – while population, congestion, and maintenance backlogs have increased, according to "An Economic Analysis of Transportation Infrastructure Investment," prepared this year by the National Economic Council and the President’s Council of Economic Advisers.

The Strategic Sourceror -- Given the advent of the Internet of Things, personalization and an overall need to reduce distribution risk, procurement officers aren't necessarily crossing off reshoring as an option.

In fact, many analysts would assert that the U.S. and the global manufacturing industry as a whole is due for an industrial revolution. To some, what the new age of production will look like is somewhat of a mystery. Will factories be completely devoid of human labor? Is a new form of "raw" materials to be established? How can artificial intelligence contribute to future development?

EBN -- When we talk about the Internet of Things (IoT), most people think about the flood or wearables and connected devices that will be put into the hands of the consumers. This same trend, though, has the potential to transform, in good ways, supply chain management.

Research firm Gartner predicts that by 2020 there will be a thirtyfold increase in Internet-connected physical devices, reaching a 26 billion device installed base, up from just 0.9 billion five years ago.

When applying lean to merchandise management, we need to think about the simplification and standardization of work, moving the supply chain process from a demand push to a customer pull form of replenishment, and removing bottlenecks that limit overall capacity and throughput in the supply chain.

Go By Truck News -- Fleet Owner magazine has released its "State of Trucking Report," which examines the last five years of the trucking industry. The report focuses on four general areas: the economy; regulation; truck trends and technology; and social impacts on the industry.

"It’s an excellent time to step back from everyday business and take the pulse of this critical industry," says the report. "What does a truck fleet look like today? How is it different from fleets of even five years ago? And what will it look like in five more years?"

EBN -- The business climate is evolving, and the procurement function has to evolve with it. That was the key message of Bill Michels, president at ADR North America, ADR-ISM China, and vice president of the Institute for Supply Management (ISM), at the recent Horizon 2014 purchasing conference.

Over time, the procurement function has gone from being transaction-driven through a variety of stages until today, when the real focus of the department is around being driven by the business strategies of the organization, said Michels, offering a fun evolutionary graphic (below) of the various stages of the past few decades.

MHI Blog -- The manufacturing and supply chain industry has a growing need for young talent as baby boomers are expected to leave the industry within the next ten to fifteen years. The industry is working to raise awareness about the variety of career opportunities available. In years past, a career in manufacturing and the supply chain was typically something that you fell into instead of actively pursuing. Now supply chain programs are offered by many colleges and universities and are recognized as a major part of a company’s success.

Supply Chain Brain -- The biggest barrier to innovation in global supply chains is the inability of companies to identify and then quickly react to opportunities, says Corey Rhodes, vice president-Americas at Amber Road. He discusses the reasons behind these shortcomings and steps to remedy them.

"Companies miss a lot of opportunities to innovate because they lack the agility to respond and execute when an opportunity presents itself," says Rhodes. "Sometimes they don’t see an opportunity that is right there in front of them."

Multichannel Merchant -- In the early days of ecommerce, retailers had to learn a two-step dance that didn’t require a whole lot of coordination. After receiving an order online, the merchant had to pack a box at a distribution center and ship the product to the customer using standard delivery. It was all pretty straightforward, and customers were amazed that the click of a mouse turned into a package on their doorsteps.

While that’s an oversimplification of the logistics process, retailers didn’t have to worry about practicing dozens of new moves to satisfy customer demands. By comparison, today’s retailers must feel like they’re trying to master ballroom dancing.

World Trade -- The Advanced Manufacturing Partnership has come out with a set of recommendations that includes establishing a national strategy in emerging manufacturing technologies, new centers of excellence and test beds that can accelerate the adoption of new technologies and a national campaign to improve the image of manufacturing.

The recommendations, sent to President Obama in late October by the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, addresses three key areas in support of manufacturing: enabling innovation, securing the talent pipeline and improving the business climate.